Amazon profits are sharply lower as it invests overseas

Amazon's sales continued to grow in the second quarter, but rising expenses took a large bite out of profits. Amazon is known for ignoring profits and opting to spend on expansion. Consumer retail sales in the three months to the end of June climbed 27% in North America and 17% overseas, totalling $34.9bn. Revenues at its critical web services division, which sells cloud computing services, jumped 42% to $4.1bn. "Our teams remain heads-down and focused on customers," said Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Earlier on Thursday Mr Bezos briefly became the world's richest man, overtaking Bill Gates as Amazon's share price rose. He relinquished the title as Amazon's shares slid lower over the course of the day.